16th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
February 26-28, 2017 • Atlanta, GA
| Utilization of Special Care Plans in Audiology for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Utilization of Special Care Plans in Audiology for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often seen for a diagnostic hearing evaluation in order to rule out hearing loss as a contributing factor to the child’s overall development. Up to 40% of children with hearing loss often present with other developmental delays. In an audiology clinical setting, children with ASD can be difficult to test with standardized testing procedures and equipment as their behavioral, sensory, and emotional needs may require more time to acclimate and adjust to the clinical setting. They may require multiple evaluations to obtain ear specific and frequency specific audiometric responses, elongating the process of evaluation and potentially hindering progress in other intervention services. “Special Care Plans” have been utilized in other child health care fields, such as surgery and in-patient hospital settings, to address specific and individual plans in regards to children with ASD prior to their procedure or hospitalization. The care plans outline the child’s needs, communication modes, preferences, and dislikes to inform staff prior to their appointments. These plans have been proven to be beneficial not only to the child and family’s experience but also to the clinician’s competence in care. The use of “Special Care Plans” in the realm of audiology should be investigated, and possibly utilized to create comfortable testing strategies and conditions for the child and the family. This poster will outline the use and benefit of special care plans, elements of special care plans that may be beneficial to include in regards to audiology, and the potential for instilling this type of care plan in the audiology setting. This information is anticipated to be helpful in creating testing strategies and environments that allow for better outcomes in regards to testing children with ASD, as well as increasing clinician confidence in evaluating these children.
- Describe the benefit of and potential for special care plans to be utilized in the field of audiology.
- Identify ways in which to instill special care plans into the clinical audiology setting.
- Inform behavioral testing methods and interactions within the field of audiology in regards to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families.
Presentation:
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Handouts:
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Transcripts:
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Presenters/Authors
Taylor Stevenson
(), Children's Hospital Colorado, taylor.stevenson@childrenscolorado.org;
Taylor joined the Bill Daniels Center for Children’s Hearing at Children’s Hospital Colorado as a 4th year extern in 2016. She is now a practicing Audiologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado as she recently graduated from the University of Utah Audiology Doctoral Program in May of 2017. As a previous LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) trainee in Utah, she completed the Autism Enhancement track, for she has specific professional interest in the areas of autism as well as pediatric audiology. She most recently completed training as an Audiology LEND Fellow in Colorado. During this time as a trainee, she presented a poster presentation at the 2017 EHDI conference on “Utilization of Special Care Plans in Audiology for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder”. This project grew from her interest in creating satisfactory, beneficial, and comfortable testing conditions for children with ASD and their families. Taylor enjoys the ability to work closely with children with special health care needs and their families as a pediatric audiologist.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.